Improvement in forming, drying, and packing paper-stock



Nirn STATES GEORGE ESCOL SELLERS, OF SELLERS LANDING, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN FORMING, DINING, AND PACKING PAPERQSTOCK, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. IELIIO, dated January 5, 1864.

Improved Mode of Forming, Drying, and Packing for Transportation and for Use Paper Pulp or Stock; and I hereby declare that the 'following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in eX- tracting the water from the pulp or stock when in a mold or former bysuction, then pressing the stock into a mass of suicient tenacity to be handled, and at the same time porous enough to dry rapidly, and, after drying, to 'again compress and bale for transportation, so that when the stock is released from the bale-ropes or conningbands it regains by its own elasticity suiiicient porosity to be readily separated and held in suspension by watel; or, when put into form for use-such as press, binders, trunk, or box boards-then by suction consolidating a layer or thickness of pulp on a mold, so as to bear a fresh layer being poured on without disturbing the first, and so on for any successive layers, and then pressing to the proper degree of solidity for the purpose required To enable others skilled in the art to use my invention, I will proceed to describe the inode in which I employ it, referring to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is an end elevation, Fig. 2 a side elevation, and Fig- 3 an enlarged plan and section, of the upper press-mold, similar letters havingreference to similar parts in each.

A is a box former, open at both its upper and lower ends. This box is secured to the table B B', from which it is suspended, and is open through the table, the upper end of the box being level with the tcp of the table. is also provided with a ledge, C C, upon which the mold D rests when in place in the box or former. The mold is an ordinary press-mold,

covered on its face with wire-cloth.

E is a cisteru surrounding the fixed box A, and is provided with an inner chamber, F, c leaving a space between the chamber and the cistern. The object of this chamber is to lessen the water-space andreduce the weight when the cistern is filled with water to the overflow-pipe G. The cistern is suspended by rods H H to the cross-head I, having girders l l. The cross-head is connected with the walking-beam J by the connecting-rod K. Screwed into the cross-head I is a rod, L, having a nut or head at its lower end. This rod passes through another crosshead, M, having for its guides the suspension-rods H H. Around the rod L, and between the crossheads I and M, isla spiral spring. To the crosshead M is suspended a press-mold, N, by the l suspension-rods o o o o. Two of these suspension-rods are made to play on the crossliead by means of slotted holes, so that when the mold hangs to the cross-head the side having the rods with the slotted holes is the lowest; but when a pressure is brought on the mold by coming in contact with the stuft' in the forming-box, the rods slide on the crosshead until the ends of` the slots arrest them, the mold then being level P is a table within the box A, and secured to the upper end of a tube, Q, which tube passes through a stuffing-box in the top of the chamber F, and is guided at its lower end by the cross-bar R. The portion ot' this tube that slides through the cross-bar It has a feather on it in whichl the notch S is out. On the cross-bar is a .spring-latch, T, which'is operated through the bent lever U by the springstop V. There are air-holes into the tube Q at W.

X is a stop for the tube' Q.

Y is a tube leading from the stuit or pulp chest to the forming-box A. This tube is provided with two slide-valves, a a, to which valves are suspended the weights b b. Between these valves is an opening or tube from: the tube Y into acharnber, Z. This chamber regulates the quantity of stui to belet into the forming-box, and for that purpose is provided with a piston, c, regulated and kept in position by the screw d. This piston has an air-veut aud floating valve, e. The valves a a are operated by means of the connecting-rod f from the walking-beam J, the lever g, the bent-lever latch-hooks h h, and the stops it. k represents an air-tube into the' press-mold N, andl a siphon from the same.

The plan view in Fig. 3 represents the un der side of the press-mold N, with the wire- Aulator and forming-box. The stuff-chest must be so placed that the pulp or stui will run into the rcgulatin g-chain bers, being kept at proper cansistency and agitated in theusual manner. There must also be means to keep the stud in the chest, at or near a boiling-temperature. This I do with waste steam from the steamwashers.

Having described an apparatus such as I use, I will now proceed to explain the manner of operating with it. The drawings represent it at descending half-stroke. As the und ot' the walking-beam descends, and with it the cross heads, press mold, and suction-cistcrn, the tube Q comes in contact with the stop X, the cistern continuing to descend until the latch'l has caught in the notch S, which secures the table l in such relative position to the cistern that on the ascending stroke the top ot' this table is raised to the level of' the top of the tableB B', carrying with it the mold I) and the stuff that is on it. `.Vhcn the tube Q is secured in position by the latch T, the air-vents W are above the stuffing-box on the top of the chamber F, and the air in the box A escapes through the tube Q and prevents the water of the cistern heilig forced out at the overfiow-pipe The drawings (at half-stroke) represent the hook-catches h 11, as both free from the' valve a a. In the first part of the ascending stroke the catch h, having hold of the valve a, raises it, allowing the stuit' to iow into the regulatin r-chamber Z until it is lled and the catch comes into contact with the stop fi, which disengages it from the valve, which is then closed by the weight b. An operative standing at the table B, as soon as the table 13 is level with B, places the mold on it. The descending stroke then commences, the end ot the letch-lever U being in the spring-catch V, disengages the supporting-tube Q and table P, which then fall and deposit the mold on its receiving edge G O. At the same time the valve a is opened and the stuit' in the regulating-chamber is discharged onto the mold in the forming-box, the valve closing by the weight b when disengaged by thevstop i. As the eistern descends with its water snrrounding the forming-box, a suction is produced that draws the water from the stui' that is on the mold, and by the time the upper press-mold comes in cont-act with the stuff it is almost entirely free of water. Then the spring between the cross-head acting on the press-mold squeezes the stui or pulp into a sufficiently dense mass to bear handling. sometimes a small amount of' water is forced into the upper press-mold, which is drawn ofi' by the siphon as soon as it has become filled to its turn, air being admitted through the tube k. When inthe ascending stroke the press-mold is lifted from the stuit', the arrangement of' slotted holes in the rods O O causes one edge ot' the mold to be raised before the other, producing what paper-makers call a couching mot-icm7 which releases the mold from the stuft' without tearing it, which would be the case if the mold were lifted directly from the stud'. As soon as the bottom of the lnold is level with the top of the table, the operative, being provided with a duplicate mold, slides it from the table Al onto the table P, at the same time pushing the filled mold onto the end of the'table B', which is made on an incline, so that the charged mold slides down until arrested by a stop. Here it is taken by another operative, who turns it over onto a rack or receiver on acarriage ready to be run into the drying-room, and passes the mold back to the rst operatohr. The cakes or blocks that have been thus formed are comparatively free from water, and are not so dense as they would have been had the same amount ef water been squeezed from them, and are in a condition to be readily dried, aud, being hot when formed, the drying is effected with more rapidity than it' they had been made up cold. The dryingrooms are provided with ventilators for the evaporated moisture to pass ofi' through, and are heated by stoves in the rooms. An apparatus as described, having a former at each end of the walking-beam, rnakngthev cakesthirtyinches square and aboutsix inches thick, the beam making one oscillation per minute, will form over one ton of stuii' per' hour when dry, and with an' attendance of four operators, including the placing in the drying-rooms. f

I aim to keep the cakes as porous as possi- .ble consistent with suiiieient density to bear placing in the drying-room, and to do this give a very slow motion to the apparatus to give time for the water to percolate through and out of the mass under the increased atmospheric pressure produced by the descending column of water in the forming-box below the mold, giving onlyr a light pressure with the upper mold. When the cakes of pulp or fiber are thoroughly dried, I place them in a common packing-press, one above another, and press them to such a degree of density that they can be transported at low cost, securing them while under pressure by cords or bands, as hay or cotton is secured.

When the pulp or fiber is to be used for making paper, and the cords or bands are re- 1noved,it regains by its own elasticity so open a condition as to be readily separated and held in a state or" suspension by water.

My mode of operating is well adapted to making press-boards,particularly when boards are required with their surfaces made of different material from their interior. For instance, a board for books may be made with a ne, soft, upper surface that will not injure the embossing-plates, with a hard, stift' interior and an under surface of great strength. For this purpose Il so adjust the mold as to bring it near the top of the forminglbox. I then distribute over the face of the mold a given quantity of ber, cause lthe suction-cistern to descend until the ber is sufciently consolidated to bear a second charge being distributed over it Without disturbance. 1For this charge I use what I have called in my patent of November l0, 1863, No. 40,576, arundine, which is a non-brous substance ot' great hardness when dry. When the cistern has descended sufficiently to have consolidated this material, I distribute the top layerof soft ber, which, after the wa er has been drawn from it, has a surface given to it by the upper press-mold. 'Ihe water percolating through the successive layers, they become much more thoroughly united than when oouched together in the usual manner of making boards. Some of the ner particles of arundine are carried into the lower layer of ber, adding to its strength and hardness. By this mode any desirable thickness may be given to each layer, and non-brous substances, such as arundine, may be used to great advantage to give hardness and stift'- ness, and yet preserve a soft surface for embossing. For trunk-boards much the largest portion may be arundine, and for that purpose the boards should be dried in an oven at about 300O Fahrenheit, as heat hardens that substance.

From the above description ot' a machine capable ot' performing the uses to which I apply it, it is evident that the theory of its operation consists in the exhaustion of moisture from the Wet and heated pulp or ber by a process of exhausting, and then by an application of pressure to the mass to bring it into acondition to be handled and dried ready to pack for transportation, and in a sufficiently porous state to be readily separated and held in suspension by water; and also that the same mode of treatment enables me to. arrange in consecutive layers different materials in the same mass, so as to form boards or cards of various degrees ot' hardness, combined with desirable qualities of surface, and which cards or boards are of use in the arts for various purposes: It is also evident that the machinery to accomplish this purpose may be made in various ways-such as the production of' suction by pumps, &c.- without interfering with the theory of its operation. I therefore do not wish to limit myself to the precise form or arrangement of the machinery described, While I obtain the same result by a mode substantially thc same; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The above-described mode of reducing paper-pulp to a condition for transportation by a system of alternate exhaustion and compression, substantially as described, and for the purpose specied. g

2. The use of thc same inode for the combination of pulp or ber and other matter of various qualities for the purpose of producing boards or cards suitable for usc in the arts.

GEO. ESCOL SELLERS.

Witnesses:

PHILIP M. PRICE, WILLrAMs OGLE. 

